Molly Ivins Quotes

I write the shopping column. I think I've proven my superficiality.

It feels so weird to be able to just kind of buy things when I want them or need them.

I'm caught up probably just as much in the consumer culture as the next person.

Consumerism is at once the engine of America and simultaneously one of the most revealing indicators of our collective shallowness.

Well, we're living in a material world, and I'm a material girl... or boy.

I'm definitely addicted to purses.

These fledgling democracies in the Middle East, they're actually fighting for their freedom. And what are they rioting for in England? Leisurewear.

If no one shopped on Thanksgiving Day, the stores wouldn't open. End of story. I say we all take the pledge and stay home. Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks for what you have, not to save a few dollars to get more.

What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest.

The working class has been turned into a consuming class - a situation has been created where people value their worth by what they can afford.

People recognize themselves in their commodities; they find their soul in their automobile, hi-fi set, split-level home, kitchen equipment.

China’s educational system has fed the country’s youth a steady diet of patriotism to ward off rebellious thoughts. But such measures appear almost redundant since many young Chinese seem more interested in buying i-phones and Louis Vuitton products than in fighting for democratic change.

We have become too much a society of consumers rather than a society of citizens.

I try to educate people about materialism through my work. I try to show them real visual luxury.

We must be aware of consumerism! That's our tendency. It's the capitalistic curse that we were poisoned with. We should spend only what is necessary. How do you call the big cars, the latest ones? Hummer! Not a single dollar to import Hummers! What is that? What is that? What kind of revolution is this? One of Hummers? No way!

People like their handbag more than their sofa, and I hate it.

A woman can never have enough shoes.

I believe that women would crawl across broken glass to get a cool pair of shoes.

Technology loves and thrives and makes gobs of money on conspicuous consumption.

People make you feel like a bad guy for asking for seven quid for your album, like you are slapping them in the face, when they'll go and pay two grand for a scarf somebody knitted in a sweat shop and stitched a designer label on.

I have a Mercedes. I wear a Rolex watch. I have no problem with the selling of things.

But before we can radically reshape the world, we need to shop.

Instead of asking what's wrong with rampant consumerism, we ought to be asking, 'What justifies it?' Popular art does not have to pander to the lowest level of intelligence and taste.

Consumerism is, quite precisely, the consuming of life by the things consumed. It is living in a manner that is measured by having rather than being... and consumerism is hardly the sin of the rich. The poor, driven by discontent and envy, may be as consumed by what they do not have as the rich are consumed by what they do have. The question is not, certainly not most importantly, a question about economics. It is first and foremost a cultural and moral problem requiring a cultural and moral remedy.

if we center our lives on BMWs, RVs, VCRs, PCs and the other acronyms of consumerism, we cannot expect our children to do otherwise.